A Door County Sunset

We went up to Door County...the county in Wisconsin's peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan...last week for a little bit of R&R and camping.  We froze at night in our little tent, believe it or not, but had a great time.  We hiked and fished and shopped.  We went to Wilson's under their famous red and white striped awnings for ice cream.  We had a yummy cinnamon roll at Grandma's Swedish Bakery at the Wagon Wheel Resort.  We walked among the boats at different marinas in the little towns up the coast.  We saw the goats on the grassy roof of Al Johnson's restaurant. It was a perfect few days, and we left relaxed and refreshed (as we always leave Door County).  Did you see the feature in Victoria magazine about Door County?  I haven't read it yet but was glad that Door County was getting some much deserved attention.

A "big deal" is to watch the sun set in the evening--hoping to see a "green flash" after the sun goes down.  One evening we watched from Sunset Park in Fish Creek, and the second evening we climbed the 75 foot tower at Peninsula State Park and watched from there.  When we got to the top...and well out of breath...I saw this pretty sailboat heading into the harbor.  I love the color of the sails.

Then we watched the sun set from our wonderful vantage point.

Going....

Going...

Going...

Gone! 

Ahhh...while we never did see that green flash, it was definitely another end to another perfect day in Door County. 

Catching Up

It HAS been awhile since I blogged last.  Life has gotten busy.  There is only so much time in a day to get things done.  My little blog has suffered.  I can't possibly go back to when I blogged last and catch up on everything.  But I shall try....

In a nutshell:  We finished school at the end of May.  The kids did well this past year, and I'm very pleased with their work.  They are taking a break from violin for the summer but are still working on their piano lessons.  Our daughter is taking swimming lessons to get a little more confident in the water than she is.  We are still doing those lessons, and I certainly see improvement in just this short time.  They are also taking art lessons this summer. 

We went camping for two nights already.  It was fun to get away, and we hope to do some more in a few weeks.  No big vacation is planned this year--just short camping trips around the state.  We really would like to get up to Door County this summer.  I see the newest issue of Victoria magazine has a nice article on Door County.  They are well deserving of the publicity.  It really is pretty and relaxing up there in the "thumb" of Wisconsin.

There have been plenty of parties we've been going to:  graduation, birthday, etc.  My mother-in-law's 70th is on July 4th, and we are helping with a big celebration for her. 

I've been working on many projects.  Unfortunately sales have been a little low, but that is to be expected this time of year when there is so much going on and people are putting their money toward vacations and family get-togethers.  I've been working on some felt projects (I really do enjoy making felt things) and, of course, my vintage jewelry embellishment projects. 

 

Mom and I are thinking of trying a craft show this fall.  She has been in many; I haven't been in any.  We're waiting approval.  I'm not very good at "production", but if we are approved to be in it, I will need to work on that until November. 

Well, I'll try to be more faithful at writing in the days ahead.  Happy summer day to you.

Vintage Button Card Jewelry

Well, I've had some amazing inspiration for this, my newest project--Button Card Jewelry. 

I have made pendants and pins that look like vintage button cards--complete with little buttons (some of them very tiny).  

Using the digital tools available today and vintage cards and things, I've made pieces that look like vintage button cards and sewn on buttons (many of them vintage) turning them into brooches and pendants.  They have been a lot of hard work but great fun. 

Of course, much inspiration has come from following Button Floozies, a blog that I adore.  Pinterest has been another source of inspiration with photos such as this:

Then, there was the article in the March 2013 issue of Romantic Homes.  I just LOVED the picture in it and was drawn to the colors on this page. 

I haven't copied any button cards actually but rather have created my own and coordinated buttons to go with them.  Hope you like them!  They are listed in my Etsy shop.

Published? A Gasp Moment

I'm behind...I admit it.  I'm behind in mending, in sorting, in cleaning out things...and in reading all of my magazines.  I subscribe to Tea Time, Romantic Homes, Victoria, and Romantic Country...and I just love every one of them.  They are inspiring, beautiful, and a delight to read and look at.  Life happens, and I've just gotten behind in reading these. In receipt order from oldest on top to most recent on the bottom, they are in a nice neat stack on the corner of our bathtub.  I love to read them when I take a bath, and let's face it....it was an awful hot summer to be lingering in a hot bathtub reading these (but that's beside the fact).  Well, today....TODAY...I picked up my August 2012 issue of Romantic Homes and had a total **GASP** moment when I turned a page and saw this...

These are my vintage jewelry thumbtacks!  I was shocked...stunned.  I SO wish I had seen this months ago when it arrived in my mailbox.  But better late than never, and I'm very, very thankful for Jacqueline putting these in a beautiful picture in the magazine with a shout to my Etsy shop. 

What a blessing! The funny thing is that I had originally sent these to a previous address of Romantic Homes, and I was really disappointed when they were returned in the mail.  So, I did more homework and found their current address and sent these again.  I'm so glad I did!

My First Auction

I had really enjoyed reading Vintage & Victorian's  article on auctions.  The article was very informative and encouraged anyone who had never been to an auction before to at least give it a try.  I had never been to an auction and mentioned to my husband that "someday" we should try one just to see what it was like.  Well, I saw a "tag sale" listed on Craigslist at an auction house.  I thought it was, well, like a garage sale...and should have known that any sale at any auction house is going to be an auction.  We arrived and figured this out very quickly.  Of course, while we were there I just had to look around and noticed three boxes of lots that looked like something I wanted.   I was pretty nervous actually worrying that I'd scratch my nose at the wrong time or wouldn't be able to understand what the guy up front was saying.  A very kind lady knew it was my first auction and gave me the advice not to bid on the first price but wait until the auctioneer went down in price before I started to bid on anything.  There were tons of little things to auction off--a set of plates, knick knacks, you name it.  Because dear patient husband and kids were waiting...and waiting, I nervously went up and asked one of the helpers if they could ask for bidding on two of the boxes I really wanted since that was all I was really interested in.  He kindly said yes.  Of course, I waited to bid once the first price was called out (since that was what the kind lady said to do!) but quickly learned that if I request something I need to bid on the first price.  Note to self!  I was pretty nervous but did bid on the two lots (ran out of money for the third lot which is okay--didn't bring as much as I should have with me thinking it was like a yard sale)....and won them!  How exciting!

One had very old things in it like an antique purse, glass jet buttons, a black mourning jacket/blouse, etc., and the other had fun vintage jewelry.  I'm not sure if I'll go to too many auctions in the future, but I finally went to one, had a great time, and found some fun treasures.

Where Have I Been?

Have you seen this magazine--Vintage & Victorian?  I was in line at the grocery store a few weeks back and saw this.  Okay, I've never seen this magazine before.  Hopefully it isn't a one-time print...and hopefully I haven't missed 20 past issues.  I finally started having the time to read through it last week and am greatly enjoying it (nice with a hot cup of tea).  I love looking through magazines like this for inspiration, ideas, styles, and trends.  It certainly has a nice mix of things that I personally greatly enjoy.  There seems to be little on line about it...just wondering if any of you know much about it or have enjoyed any in the past.  Anyway, I'll keep looking out for others if they appear.  It certainly is a great find.

Tea Time Magazine and Beautiful Chintz

I just KNEW when I opened my mailbox and saw the July/August issue of TeaTime magazine that I'd love it. I love chintz and quickly flipped over to the article "A Summer Hat Tea Party" that the front page was taken from.  It is just lovely!  The chintz tea set is beautiful.  I enjoyed reading through the recipes as well--especially the summer hat peach pies (adorable) and the blueberry buckle.  I tried the blueberry buckle recipe this past week.  We enjoyed it for breakfast for two days (we liked it better cold).  It was not only easy but super yummy.  Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of it.  Just trust me....it was good.  Anyway, the magazine was a great issue.  I learned a lot about Darjeeling (very interesting), spoons (looking forward to the next feature on miniature and soup spoons), and found some ideas on tea party themes.  I made some scones for hubby's work from a previous issue of TeaTime (raspberry lemon scones).

They were a little involved to make and had rich ingredients but turned out really well and were very tasty.  I liked that the recipe used fresh raspberries and had a sugary lemon topping that was tart/sweet on the top and had pretty flicks of lemon zest.  I send them off with lemon curd.  Yum!  Check out their website http://www.teatimemagazine.com/ if you'd like to find out more information, get some free recipes, or perhaps order their bimonthly magazine (*credit* The picture at top is the front cover of TeaTime magazine and is their work and property.).