Painting Bliss

Coffee Conundrum

 

 

 

While visiting my grandmother the other day I couldn't help but stop and meander through some antique shops on the way with my mom. Narrow isles and shelves and surfaces lined with everything old and dusty is a treat that I can't even begin to explain. I am a magpie, taking home and filling my nest with the things that most strongly catch my eye. You can imagine how hard it is for me to leave something behind that I can't afford on that particular day. It's okay though, I leave with the intention of visiting again when I can and hoping the item is still there. Like a vintage globe perched on a vintage surveyors tripod I left behind... stomping like a two year old out the door. "But Mom.......... I want it! I want it now!"

 

 

 

I have to say though that I made out extremely well. I came home with an antique travelers trunk, farmhouse stovetop percolator, two lovely tin boxes, and an array of old drinking glasses to continue our growing collection. And yes, we really do use them! That's the thing with us, we rarely buy something we can't use. Every antique that departs with us is brought home and put to task. Every morning we percolate our coffee on a 1962 coffee maker. It makes the cleanest, most robust coffee which I can't wait every morning to drink.  Alas, I have to wait though... because another thing it does so perfectly well is heat the coffee to a temperature just above burn your taste buds off. My poor husband has to stare at his to go cup for most of his one hour ride to work just waiting it out.

I wanted to use the vintage metal stove top perc I found for a whopping $2 just about imimmediately... I carefully measured my grounds, measured the water into the water compartment (I think it's the water compartment), turned the flame on and waited. It did great! It did wonderful... except for the grounds in the water and the boiling over. HA! This morning, it was a second attempt after talking to some girlfriends on Instagram... again trouble. Repeated the same process as the morning before but this time the coffee came out almost see through. Dammit, stomp stomp, huff!

The percolator has three compartments... the main carafe - then the inserts which go as follows. Grounds insert on the bottom which fits snuggly into an upper portion where water goes... I think.

 

 

So does anyone know how to use one of these?

Suggestions?

Advice for the technically inclined?

 

 

 

Love thy Home in a Thrifted Way

 

All this newly found happiness has me putting energy into all sorts of places I didn't realize I had checked out of. Like decorating our home! It has been so long since I took pride in decorating our love nest, and I missed it so much! The other day I did some antique/vintage shopping, found some lovely things I wanted to share with you today!

 

(Bright yellow Pineapple motif crocheted doily in a large size, now a front door curtain - Thrifted  $6)

 

(Hand embroidered pillow cover $1!!! All ready to slip a pillow in)

 

I think some folks (not all of course), hold back on how they want to decorate. Perhaps they feel that homes are supposed to be decorated a "certain way", or that they must be nice, neat, and presentable. Well... yes, and no! If you want to hang something from the ceiling or put twinkle lights across the bookcase, then why not!? Right? Right! And that's how I'm decorating. If I think something makes me happy, then I'm going to do it. Like... for instance... the top of our book case is a place where I keep candles and our incense... it's also where I let vintage dinosaurs roam! They have to be kept up high because when they get down they chase people and try and bite their ankles! Naughty reptiles!

 

 

 

 

Trippin' at the thrift shop (cue the song) found me with an armful of vintage scarves. A little hum hum on  my sewing machine and suddenly I have a curtain that would make Peir 1 Imports wet their pants! A pleasant reward was when I hung it up, the heat ran, and the curtain undulated in beautiful and flowing ways.

Or perhaps their is a ghost in the house and it's trying to put on the curtain as a dress?

 

 

(These two scarves - Thrifted - $5)

 

 

I have always admired crochet buntings, knew I could make them, but never did. Why? Laziness... hectic day to day living... I don't know... but I made one last weekend and it is one of the newest additions to our home that brings me the most joy. It brings me the most joy because it's something I didn't allow myself to make... or rather depression didn't. Well screw you depression, I have an army of pills and a good therapist now that trump your efforts ten fold!

 

 

 

 

Some of my left over silk scarves became pillow covers. With just turning them around into the diamond shape position, laying the pillow on top, and meeting the corners together in a knot... it's a no sew improvement that needs little effort for achievement! Not to mention they are silky soft and extremely lush to lay with.

 

 

 

(Thrifted scarf $3 - Pillow form $10 - Final Cost $13 for custom pillow! Plus it only took 2 minutes to make)

 

Next I'm thinking about hanging things from the ceiling in spots that just seem to scream for it. Like above our bookcase... it's caddy corner and so space is a lost. When I look at it I see that it needs pretty things on string I think... Here is an idea that I found on Pinterest. You can click on the picture and make some for yourself if you like. They are made of post it notes!

 

 

 

 

Love yourself, love the things that make you happy, love the space you live in!

 

 

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I Collect - It's What I do

 

 

If you are a frequent reader here you already know that I am a collector. A magpie, loving all things that catch my eye. I enjoy the hunt, the excitement, and the moment that I know I have found something that speaks to me... and in an antique shop like this, how could I not look in every nook and cranny until something spoke my language.

I adore seeing glimpses into your human past. Little snap shots of the modern family, when that time was modern. Like this little goodie we saw...

 

 

The mom helping the children, dressed her best. Her husband, sitting off to the side... taking no part other than to smoke his pipe. It is Christmas in the 1950's home. A magic moment where every child behaves and every family in America is happy. That was advertising then, life as it used to be.

This time around I purchased a tiny sapphire blue pharmaceutical bottle (I have a deep affection for vintage glass bottles), a 1940/50's turquoise tea pot, and a pair of lemon yellow 1950's salt and pepper shakers. The hubby himself found a lovely edition of Wuthering Heights illustrated with gorgeous wood cut illustrations.

 

 

I could do it all day, every day.  Hopping from shop to shop, barn to barn, store front to store front. Something in me yearns to collect. Sometimes I wonder why people feel the need to collect. I hypothesise that they need to comfort themselves with items... or that perhaps they remember their past lives and are constantly searching for things from the time they can't quite remember.  Whatever it is... there are lots of us... all over the world collecting, keeping, displaying. I can't explain why I collect. I just need to.

I am drawn to things, and I like to think the things are drawn to me. Random things.

 

My Week Through The Eyes of Instagram 1/14 - 1/20

 

 

“People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

 

 

If you enjoy my Instagram photos and would like to follow my feed, feel free to do so

@Paintingbliss

 

Thank You!

 

 

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Thrift Your Soul Out!

 

 

I'm afraid that my downness might be coming through here on the blog, where better to put my downness than into my online dairy? Well, I'm feeling better if your wondering. Much better. My smile is shining again so yesterday I decided to pack the boys into the car and journey first for full bellies, then to our favorite Antique store.

Thrifting really soothes my soul.

Looking through the plethora of eye candy that is old is instant excitement for the artist's eyes.

 

 

It's funny to call some place your favorite place when you have only been there twice, but it really is and I know it will continue to be. Not only do I like the outside of the building, but the inside too. Everything is perfectly and imperfectly laid before me. It's a delicious banquet of things!

I am quite fond of the owner who is a divine sweetheart. He runs the place himself (with the help of his wife/best friend) and he just adores my children whom he greets with lollipops and jokes. This time he even convinced the baby to put his coat on as we left!

We chat for moments on end and relate a whole bunch.

 

Thats me and the middle child, a reflection in the VERY large mirror behind the counter.

Middle child is inspecting an antique gold pill box.

 

I'm really excited about what I purchased yesterday! I'm not the type to always buy off the shelf, not when I'm antiquing. I look inside things, behind things, and yesterday UNDER things! For months maybe longer I have been craving a topography drawer. He had buttons displayed in them for sale, each square section of buttons $1. I looked at him mid chat and said "How much for the drawers, not the buttons". Which is strange coming out of the mouth of a button collector with button collecting friends. But the drawers were singing like sirens in my ears, I had to have them.

We worked out a deal and now I am the owner of not one but two large and perfectly aged topography drawers! I like to collect small things... from life and also from nature... this will be a place for me to display my quirky and unique finds. These drawers will hang on our walls! The owner, I, and the children scooped buttons out of every nook and cranny until our fingertips were black. I didn't mind, gave us more time to shoot the breeze! Thankfully he said the dust was free of charge!

 

 

Besides the drawers I purchaed a few vintage items for a package I am mailing out to a new friend, old scrabble-like alphabet letter pieces, and a gift for the hubby! I guess at one time there was a brewery in the town I grew up in. There in the window while I scooped buttons was a clear bottle that caught my attention, mostly because it was catching sun at that moment. But. upon further inspection it actually said the county and town on it! This town being a former home, I felt like having a piece of history from a place we have lived would be special. Not to mention the hubby is a home brewer, so YAY!

 

 

I plan on making visits to my antique store on a more regular basis. Perhaps every other week as his stock changes regularly. Neat tid bit... I told him I felt good feelings from the building, and he said that it's not haunted except for his Grandfather! I said, well that's not the building... that would be you that's haunted. To which he replied... "Nope! This used to be a taxi cab office and years ago in the 40's and 50's my grandfather worked here!"... and guess what? He didn't know that when he bought the building! Man I love stuff like that! It's the little connections that are always there weaving together beneath the surface.

 

 

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Holy moly moly it's December!? What!? Where did that come from!? Oh well, it's here and I have to admit I'm enjoying the cold, pink cheeks, and snow that won't melt on the ground. It's been awhile since we had a cold winter and I'm hoping other than these 2 unseasonal days here in the 1st and 2nd days of December that it will in fact be a chilling batch of wintry days. We need it... to kill off parasites, germs, and everything else small gross and unseen!

This past week went really fast. I really don't know where it went, but it was a great one! Favorite day this past week? Friday. Not just because it was Friday but because I had my neighbors with me most of the day and into the evening... and I'm pretty lucky cause my neighbors aren't just friends/neighbors... they are family. Family that lives next door. Call me blessed cause I love them more than all the cupcakes in the world, and you know how much I love cupcakes!

 

Happy week that past and happy week to be!

 

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

- Dr. Seuss

 

 

 

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Hand Dipped Merino, Patterns, and Thrifted Alpacas

 

The hurricane blew in and it blew right back out. It's wind was fierce but the rain not so much. We had plenty of worries and fears, but as long as we had each other we knew that it was all okay. Because in the end, it isn't about a house or family photos (although those things are pretty darn important)... it's about the people in our life.

As the hurricane winds started to spin around my small village, though not bad enough to stay inside I walked with a neighbor to the post office hoping a yarn purchase I had made would be there. Something pretty and soft to keep my hands busy while the power went out the the hurricane raged. It was my very first non store yarn purchase. Something special. A beautiful merino blend hand dipped in the North Pole by Expression Fiber Arts I couldn't resist it when I saw the colors and heard the name it had been given... painters palette. Up until then I had drooled over the yarns beautiful dipped colors and combinations of hues, thinking oh this will be my first expensive yarn purchase... but nope, until the painters palette that is.

 

 

Painters pallete goes from red to cream to orange to cream to yellow to cream... well you get the idea. Your rainbow choice of colors with off white thrown between, and she added brown. I liked that. Most artists work with raw umber instead of black, making their own black. So I hit up her website, ordered 2 skeins and waited. Walking up to the post office, chatting with my neighbor about the impending storm I put my key into the post office box to surprise low and behold the powers that be made the yarn arrive just in time for a power outage! I was so excited.

I knew I wanted to make a cowl out of it, so I searched for the perfect pattern. In the end I didn't find one I felt gave the yarn a real showcase of it's beauty. In the end I went with a simple infinity mobius cowl which means it's all one piece but has one twist in it just like the infinity symbol. It creates a perfect lay around the neck, nothing up in your chin or mouth. Comfort. The yarn, not quite a 4 more a 3 just above a sock yarn I decided to use a small G hook. I couldn't have chosen better! the tininess of the stitch almost gives off a knit look. To tie up the ends I decided to go with a simple scallop which I have almost completed.

 

 

Knowing that this cowl was THE cowl for me being that it has all colors and would match any outfit I wore, I remembered I had a skein of off white yarn in the studio. A hat! I would make a matching hat. A big oversized slouch hat. I was going to go ahead and use the usual pattern I create but in the end decided that too wasn't what I wanted. For winter I want a big slouchy rasta type winter hat... so I am designing my own pattern... and if all goes well I will share it with you so you too can be a cutie pa tutie!

 

 

Using the hand dipped merino was a treat... and I think it has spoiled me. I am sort of looking at regular synthetic store bought yarn now as just plain meh, so what, whatever. I want fibers! I want wool, alpaca, and merinos! If I am going to put so much time into my crocheted pieces they might as well be of great qaulity! right?? right! Well it just so happens that my bestie Jax from Hand of Bela Peck sent me 2 bags of alpaca yarn she found in a thrift shop. She is THE thrifting queen and I about squealed when she texted me a picture of what was headed my way! Now that Ashlie has used hand dipped yarn guess what Ashlie wants to do? Hand dip yarn of course!!!

 

 

She sent me 3 skeins of a beautiful coffee with cream brown, a 3 skeins of off white, and that is what I will dye, the off white batch. This yarn is soooooooooooooooo incredibly soft. Oh my GAWD it is like silk. Makes you feel so so spoiled and I know I will do another cowl with this, perhaps a basket weave stitch in a stripe or maybe just a huge cowl full of puff stitches. Oh who knows!

 

 

So now I need to research dying yarn and get my hands stained in some natural dying elements. I am thinking of using some pomegranate tea I have to make a beautiful soft pink. Pink and brown always go well together and the brown skeins she sent needs a mate.

Wouldn't you know that the mysterious yarn found in a thrift shop and sent to me wasn't so mysterious after all? There was a sticker on it with a website and contact info! This super silky yarn came from Nirvana Farms in Hastings Minnesota! Each skein contains 300 yards of yarn and I have 3!!! that's a lot!

They have a website which you can visit here, and an etsy page which you can visit here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Old Stuff Kind of Week

 

 

Yesterday's post sharing my antique store adventure, also found me stopping at a small consignment shop which really wasn't worth much other than the book that greeted me my first step into the door. I had no idea Candy Land was a book before it was a children's board game... so either I'm really young or I'm unlearned in the ways of child's literature.

Either way this book was an excitement for me,  and I had to have it!

 

 

Printed in 1928 its no longer attached to its cover, but gently sits inside hoping for future professional repair. The hubby knows how to bind books, so I will probably have him take a look see. I was truly surprised by the richness the book still held in it's color. Bright illustrations in mostly primary colored printing are a sight to be dazzled by.

 

 

Being that just moments before I found my vintage red bear friend from the American Teddy Bear Co. I knew I had to read this story to my boys and tell them that my red bear was the very same bear that led little Betty into Candy Land! So far the kids have been taking turns sleeping with "Brunny" each night, and there's not a room he doesn't follow us into.

 

 

If you ask me, the board game doesn't hold even a small candle's light to this book and the original story... and where did the bear go in the game? Where did all the freaky characters come from and the wacked out LSD hued colors that we all remember as a child? To be honest I remember altering the order of the cards when my mom turned her head or went to the bathroom so that I could take an instant jump right to the candy cane castle (ooooooh cheater cheater!)

 

 

And perhaps the book and the game have nothing to do with each other as the story other than traveling to a place called Candy Land and the castle looking exactly the same, truly don't resemble each other. I am having trouble researching it actually. Anyone know anything about my beautiful old book? Anyone recollect reading it as a child or happen to be an antique book aficionado?

 

If the book and the board game aren't related I would of seriously sued the board game creator over creative rights... or something like that, I'm no lawyer! Sounds official... sounds good :)

 

 

I have always had an affection for old children's books. They inspire me and intruege in their mysterious ways. Perhaps it's the magpie in me or the girl from another life that needs old things nearby. Whatever it is, someday I'll probably be living in a house full of cats and boxes of old stuff... atleast I'll be happy!

Backwoods Antique Shops of the Adirondacks

 

On our long drive home we decided that in no hurry, we would stop when and wherever we wanted. That said, we of course both loving antique shops had to stop at the one we passed on the way up... you know, the one with the old lady outside in her lawn chair smothered in tanning oil - yup! that one!

We entered through the garage which just looked like a bunch of hell tossed on to some tables, everything overly priced for passing tourists in hopes of a big sale to some dumb city folk who don't know their two cents about antiques or new found junk to treasure.

 

From the garage we meandered into a back room that led to another room, which led to another, and another, up some stairs and into the attic! I swear I felt one the rooms move in the old house when we were looking about and remarking and giggling over the perverted french artwork! OMG! Pervert, pedophile, what have you... I was baffled that this at one time was considered a sellable piece of artwork! something to be put on the wall of your home? Pervert? probably... then again maybe the chicken was genuinely curious about the half naked kid missing one shoe!? or perhaps the duck was also curious of... um... the child's... well... yeah... how about no!? Anywho... I was mentioning that the upstairs felt seriously unstable!

 

 

It was fun looking through everything as antiquing usually is, I saw a lot of stuff I liked but nothing I had to take home... until... until my mom spotted something really grand!

He sat next to a matching teddy of the same type, except dressed as a girl. He had a sweeter face and one us over in a heartbeat! Carrying him with me down the stairs and over to the owner, I asked how much he was hoping he wasn't also over priced. When she said $15 I said deal, and the red bear with the hug me face sat buckled up in my sons empty car seat all the way home.

 

 

Vintage Wallpaper and Pretty Packaging

 

Working with vintage paper has been really inspiring for me... enjoying the sheet music my friend Suki from The Owl Club sent/surprised me with I couldn't help but hop onto Etsy and purchase some vintage wallpaper sheets with some french book literature as well. There is something fun about using paper that is in another language, as long as it doesn't say anything embarrassing!

Ah who cares, you won't know (Well Suki will)  and neither will I!

 

 

These wonderful wallpaper sheets came from Holly Moore from the Frilly Frou Frou. She packaged everything so beautifully, complete in cellophane bags.

 

I had the choice of selecting from a number of wallpapers, I knew just the ones I liked the best.

I just love them and all their bright beautiful colors! for being antique, they look fantastic and will look even more fantastic in my artwork.

I have some other vintage items coming in the mail, can't wait to share them with you!