How Cute is She??

This picture was taken on the 4th of July. It is of our sweet baby Addie. She is the daughter of my niece Brynne. They recently moved clear across the world to Michigan of all places!!

I tried to download some pictures I had taken the last couple of days to show you what I got at the last Antique Show. But for some reason my computer hates me and won't cooperate so I will show you this sweet baby instead.

She is so much fun and knows all the best tricks, she can speak Spanish, she can sign, and knows all the regular animal sounds that babies do. It's fun when they are learning to talk, but when it's not so fun and you've heard enough, how do you turn them off?? Maybe that is when you send them to kindergarten?

I will figure out the computer yet, just when I get one thing conquered it throws me a new issue... Where is my Emily when I need her? Probably getting ready to start her Sophomore year at Canby High School!!

I am suppose to be getting ready for a trip to the Oregon Coast but wanted to get an update out first.

Next weekend will be a busy one and I hope you can catch up with me at either Albany on Saturday or Coburg on Sunday. I will have lots of new aprons and "new" old things as well. Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend!!

It's Not Disneyland...

Yes folks, I did indeed go to Chuckie Cheese. I hate that place!! It is crazy! I must admit though it has improved over the years. My first experiences with Chuckie were with three wild boys at the Chuckie Cheese on 82nd in Portland. This was almost 25 years ago....It was worse than a zoo, it was very loud, dark, and crowded. There was no rope at the door and stamp on your hand to make sure no one took the wrong child home... Today's stores are much improved.

I have found that doing things that I did with the "original" children are generally more pleasant than I recall when I do them with Sam. Probably for a variety of reasons, one child instead of three, most activities have improved over time, but also I'm not that worried about what other people are thinking in regards to my parenting skills. The skills have probably not improved over time but he seems to be coming along fine despite the attitude from his mom.

When he was a baby I would tell people that all of Sam's friends were over forty and female... It was true then but now he has a few friends of his own and I have made a few younger friends as well, also despite my attitude.

The deal was our friend Gabi and I are teaching Sam "sight words" and when he learns the first 100, Chuckie Cheese was to be the treat. The original deal is still on, but we were in Vancouver Washington and I couldn't find a kid friendly restaurant without golden arches so that is where we landed last evening. Sam is starting Kindergarten next week and they are testing so we want to be ready and reading on the first day of school!!

Do you have any idea how MANY sight words there are? Probably should have allowed a little more time for this project!

Oregon City Antique Faire

Here are a couple of shots of my booth at Oregon City Antique Faire. It was a beautiful day not to hot or to cool actually a perfect day in the Pacific Northwest.

It is always fun to do the same show year after year. It is great visiting with repeat customers and catching up with vendors who you have met in previous years. Generally vendors stay in the same spot year after year, so customers will know where to find them. It doesn't take long before they actually become "neighbors" you get to know your neighbors pretty well and it is one of the best part of the shows for me. Connecting with other crazy people who do what I do, where else could you meet? I suppose at a thrift store, garage sale, dumpsterdiving??? I think the 12 to 16 hours of being next to each other lends itself to a deeper more satisfying relationship.







Here I am in an apron I made for the show. I sold it to my "neighbor" Diane she had on the one she had bought before and this one over it. She had quite a style going. I love the French Market Apron but I think I prefer the bib one with the pockets it makes more since to me aprons and pockets kind of go together. I will finish the ones I have cut out but I think I will focus on the others. There are so many variations that it boggles my mind... I always like a sight ruffle and lace or rick rack..

Hard to believe I would post a picture of myself full body at that, but I know that everyone knows that computers make you look 10 pounds heavier or was that TV?? And actually I'm sure it is 30 pounds anyway!!

Where did that week go???

It was a blur for sure.. I have been trying to make more aprons and get things ready for the Oregon City Show this Sunday, but life gets in the way of production sometimes.


I did do a tool box with my niece Emily for my sister Toni's birthday. They are so fun to make especially to customize for someone special. They are very time consuming but one of those projects that you can stay up all night and totally loose track of the time.. It was fun to do with Em, she picked the words and ideas that she thought would work and did the base coat. She had to leave so I finished and added a few of my own ideas.

Friends are so special...

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I'd like you to meet my new friend. I'm not sure what her name is I got her this week. I love mannequins. The one in the corset is the new one. She has a green cover which is in the next picture. The plastic bag on the bench next to her came with her.







Can you possibly guess what the bag is for? It was in the box with her.


It is her bag of FAT!!! I am sure that you use it to stuff her and make her "life" size actually your own size... I guess additional bags could be ordered but really, who would want to make that call?? Hello, this is Joy could you please send me another bag of fat to stuff my mannequin with??? I think she is fine the way she is. I will put her green cover on and let her live her skinny little miserable life. She can wear all the wonderful vintage dresses that don't fit me. I'm not bitter...


Well I must go my friend Anna is here.

In case you thought I was just out looking for treasures the whole time no it is not so... I love to do projects even on vacation. I enlisted the help of my 2 favorite cousins Kay and Judy, the aprons are just part of what we did. I can't believe I actually got the picture where I wanted it the first time..I might be getting the hang of this after all.
These are the French Market Aprons by the way. I hope to have lots and lots of these and the ones from a previous post (August 6th} ready for my next show which is Oregon City on Sunday August 26. I love making these, the hardest part is trying to figure out the combination of fabrics because the possibilities are unlimited. And why wouldn't you want to agonize over such and important decision??? My sister Toni and I spent several hours last night doing just that. We decided on 12 perfect combinations for 12 new aprons, it was getting very late so I need to recheck and agonize a little more, just for fun... Then cut them out and away I go.
If you stop by my shop and catch me there I will most likely be buzzing along on my new Bernina sewing machine... My cousin Judy gave this to me, as she got a new one and knew that I would give it a good home. I might work it hard and keep it up late but I know I will love it!!!!

Home Again

It's good to be home but we did have a great time. I shopped for "treasures" the whole way to Chowchilla, California and back. We were driving the car so they had to be small but I did manage to find a few. Seems like we spent a lot of the time driving in circles trying to figure out the directions the locals gave us. People almost always point and say its just a few blocks this way and "you can't miss it" and I'm here to say "oh yes I can!!" I found a great store in Redding California the locals call POP I think it stands for People of Purpose and it was my kind of stuff. I got there at 3:15 and they closed at 3:30 they were having 50% off everything!!! It was really organized old stuff but still kinda gross and hot and smelly not for the faint of heart! I did manage to get a few things. I did not want to be locked in when they bolted the chain link fence with the barbwire on top.... Well actually I did, but Sam and Dave were on the other side waiting for me so I didn't dare.
We had a great time visiting family. Sam is in a Power Ranger phase in his life now thank you for the costumes Gail... He wore them the whole week. The hotel in Medford gave us a Power Ranger discount on our room, she was so amused . The photo below is of Sam and my Cousin Kay's grandson Dillon. The picture of the cutie with Sam the Power Ranger is Morgan she is my Cousin Judy's granddaughter. Her sister is Meredith and she is glad we didn't get her picture with the Power Ranger suit on. Sam loved playing with them they were sweet to him and lots of fun.

Tryig Again

I wish I knew how to use the computer better, then I could get the info to you all a little faster I'm in the market for carrier pigeons. Anyone know where to look? If I only knew how to find the infamous Craig"s List...Who is Craig any way??? Well I'm leaving for a week and I had much news to post but it is lost in the edit business....if you do a blog do NOT push edit ....
Here are the pictures and I will try and let you know what they are. Maybe if I type really slow and enunciate this will all work out????

What a weekend!!

Wow that was quite a weekend, Friday was spent trying to get everything finished up and packed to take to Molly Mo's and dropped off. Seems like I remember something about the umbrella breaking and Dave ( the super husband) having to fix it before we can go... me being TIRED and maybe just a tiny bit cranky, its all just a blur... Of course as soon as we arrive then I'm happy as can be and thrilled to see my friends. Dave went home to pick up Sam and get ready for lots of father son bonding over the weekend.. The interpretation of that is he has Sam all weekend as I am not going to be around...
The Tickled Pink girls spent the night since my house was an hour closer to the next day's show and of course we stayed up WAY too late and ended up with about 2 or 3 hours sleep as we need to get up and going by 4am.... Who could be tired when there was BIG fun to be had???

Staying Busy

Who has time to smell the roses... I'm lucky to get them watered. I love the lilies. they smell wonderful all you have to do is walk by or in my case run by... The roses are great too, but did you notice they need dead headed?

I'm getting excited for the show at Diane's her business name is Molly Mo's . It looks like we are going to have beautiful weather I can use the umbrella for shade or if we have a sudden change in the weather, it could always work to keep the rain off. That is always a possibility in Oregon...


I've been using my serger to put the ruffle on the umbrella. It is so much more fun than ruffling the "old fashion" way. I always break the thread and it make me crazy.... My cousin Judy sent this fantastic piece of equipment to me about a month ago and all I want to do is serge... I used it on the purses and the aprons and anything else I can think of. It makes me a little nervous though because the cutter is serious business once it's cut it's gone and there is not a lot of room for error... Serging is not for the nervous type.
I love the umbrellas. The ribbon flaps in the breeze and its just a really fun addition.
I still plan to make little seat cushions for the chairs. They will be simple just a little cover made with an old curtain that ties it all together. I should have taken a picture of the fabric I laid it on the seat so you could get the idea.

I'm sure there is a way to move these pictures around or even delete them but I can't figure it out and I need to get back to work. The picture of the flowers was to be on top but just use your imagination...
Pretend I know what I am doing!!

I took some pictures of the tool boxes I have painted and I'm ready to embellish, will add them later so you can see the progress. However, if I don't get going there will be no progress...