Claudia — Page 1649

Cleaning & Rediscovering

November 14, 2010 at 2:30 am by Claudia

While in the midst of cleaning off the porch, putting things in the shed for the winter as well as rearranging said shed, look what I found:

I forgot about this shelf! It is a little fragile, but I think I can use it. The scrollwork is so pretty.

I want to paint it a creamy color. Maybe it can go in my studio?

Then I found this:

This little glass lamp was my grandmother’s. I’ve never been enamored of the brass finish, but the hand-painted glass? Love it.

Pink roses – perfect! I’m going have it re-wired. You are all so crafty and savvy – any ideas on what to do with the brass? Suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I’m not even sure it is real brass, it may be ‘faux brass.’

This came in the mail yesterday. It is a little 3 x 5 oil painting by Lara Harris. She painted several of these to help raise money for her cousin, Holly, who needs to travel to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to be treated for a debilitating disease involving the inner ear. Her cousin’s husband will have to take unpaid leave in order to be with her and care for their 4 children. I checked Lara’s Etsy shop and there are at least 3 still available.

Isn’t this beautiful? Lara is a very talented artist who lives in my home state of Michigan. Someday I hope to have her paint my doggies – Lara specializes in pet portraits. Stop by and visit her and if you’re inclined to donate to a good cause, her dress paintings are very reasonably priced.

My back is getting much, much better. Thanks so much for your concern. I am being careful, I promise.

Friday at MHC

November 12, 2010 at 9:31 am by Claudia

I woke up this morning, sleepily came down the stairs and discovered some ‘elimination problems’ from a certain male dog. Yikes. Nothing like cleaning up before one’s first cup of coffee. Poor Riley. No more water late in the evening, my friend. Our boy is very sensitive, so when something of this nature happens, he feels very badly. We are learning to be loving in these situations because he is doing the best he can. Any angry, loud reaction only bewilders him and accomplishes nothing. So in the midst of all the cleaning, I was petting him and saying “It’s okay.” Because it is.

He is a special boy, our Riley. He came to us for a reason and I truly believe that.

What else is new? I’m still nursing my lower back. I’m crocheting like a madwoman. I’ve got a book review coming up next week. I’m writing a recommendation for a former Boston University student who wants to go to graduate school in Speech Pathology. (That’s what I should have done – it pays better than what I do. And it’s steady work.) I helped Heidi at the store the other day. Her Holiday Open House is this weekend. I moved Maryjane’s banner to a new place in the studio:

I like it.

You know I have a photography blog, right? The link is right over there on my sidebar. My goal is to post one photo each day. So far, I haven’t missed a day, although a few times I forgot to post until late in the day. I like this idea of a daily snapshot of my life. Some photos are better than others, but here is one of my favorites:

A milkweed pod in my back yard. There is a challenge in this daily posting. I’m learning to see beauty in the everyday, to look beyond the obvious, to try to become a better photographer.

Oh, and my birthday is in just over a week.

Have a lovely Friday. I’ll be cleaning.

Auctions and Crafting

November 10, 2010 at 10:24 am by Claudia

I was at an auction on Monday night, hoping to get some little treasures I’d seen in the preview. I did get a couple of the things I wanted, but the others? Well, the auction was packed and therefore the bids multiplied and soon they were out of my price range. I’ve learned a lot about auctions from observing my friend Heidi in action. So I went in with a list of things I was interested in, set a price limit for each one, and then stuck to it. Oh, it was hard to lose out – so hard – but I’m proud that I stuck to my guns. (I’m slowly accumulating some treasures because I’m thinking very seriously of starting my own little Etsy shop. Maybe. In the future.)

I’ve been fortunate to get some great deals at auction in the past. One of them was this framed print:

which hangs above the sofa in the den.

I fell in love with this print for two reasons. As you already know, I love flower paintings. But the frame – oh, the frame. When I saw that scalloped edge with a hint of green, the obsession to own this took hold. We sat through a long night (this auctioneer was very slow) and it almost didn’t come up for auction. I think it was around midnight and the auctioneer was starting to wind up the evening when I realized he might not get to it. So I shouted out that I wanted to bid on it. I was the only bidder and got it for $15.00. Take a look at the frame:

Isn’t it beautiful? It’s quite heavy, by the way. Do you see the touch of green on the edge of the frame? I love it. And I have the perfect view of it from my blogging chair. As happens so many times in my life, I realized it went perfectly with another piece I already had.

We found this little vintage shelf several years ago. I’ve never seen another like it. The finish on the wood is the exact same shade as the finish on the frame. Meant to be.

I’ve been crafting a bit. Here’s a little work in progress:

I found a paper cone at Michael’s and thought I’d play a bit. So I covered it with some sheet music and then added some vintage crochet. Then some vintage seam binding at the top and a millinery flower (yet to be attached.) I’m not done yet, but what do you think of it so far?

I’m off to Heidi’s shop today to help with Christmas decorating. I missed her decorating party on Monday night, so I’m going to do whatever a girl with an achy back can to help out. Have a great day.

Cleaning & Rediscovering

Friday at MHC

Auctions and Crafting

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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