Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Gifts & Giving Thanks

November 24, 2010 at 10:30 am by Claudia

Thanksgiving always brings a flurry of activity, doesn’t it? Around MHC, we stay low key. We try to be thankful every day – of course, it’s easier to be thankful when everything is going well. We’ve had our share of adversity here this year. The challenge is in staying thankful despite the stress, loss and worry. Since we don’t eat turkey or meat, our dinner will be side dishes. They’re always my favorites. Mashed potatoes and biscuits and yams and green beans and cranberries – yum!

Elyse sent me a box full of goodies for my birthday. I thought I’d share a few photos with you.

This is what I saw when I opened the box. Definitely my colors!

These pretties were inside the pretty pink flowered box.

And I opened this sweetly wrapped package to find these:

I can’t wait to play with everything. Thank you, Elyse!

A few weeks back, I sent a little gift to Elyse as a thank you for her friendship and constant support of my writing and this blog. I made another Boite de Vignette, inspired by a comment Elyse made on one of my posts. She liked one of my figurines and I realized it looked rather like her gnome-like tinkerer.

Now, I know I’m a rank amateur at all this. I’m learning….very slowly.

So be kind.

This is the outside of the box. I wanted it to look like a door into Elyse’s tinkered world.

This is what you see when the box is opened. I used the background on E’s blog, some ribbon, the tinkerer and lots of glitter. My first foray into the world of glitter, by the way. Martha Stewart glitter.

I would love to make more of these in the future: creating little worlds inside a box that are specific to each giftee. I don’t know…maybe that’s silly. This form of creating is new to me and I am sometimes so intimidated by what I see my fellow bloggers create. The talent in blogland is amazing and humbling.

But you never know what you can do until you try, right?

Filed Under: crafts, Fellow bloggers, gifts 39 Comments

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.

Filed Under: auction, crafts 28 Comments

Les Boites Des Vignettes

September 7, 2010 at 1:40 pm by Claudia

Hello – hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day. We spent part of it with musician friends and had a great time. School started in our neck of the woods today and Scout couldn’t be happier. Two school buses to bark at! When the first bus stopped and she started barking, we all shouted “Hurray! The noisy bus is here!” And by all, I mean Riley, Scout, me and Don. I know…we’re nuts.

I’ve been playing around with an idea – something I’ve wanted to try for a while. You know I consider myself crafty in some areas but not so much in others. Yet I am inspired daily by all the wonderful creations I see out here in blogland. So this idea was percolating and then I received Lori’s present.


My little sheep needed a home. and off I went to Michael’s. I bought a very inexpensive unfinished box (well, actually 4 boxes.)


I painted it a creamy color, including those glaringly bright brass hinges.

Then I added some favorite things:


The French text on the left, the french soap label and the tag came from my friend Mary. The text looks like it is from an old prayer book and it fit perfectly in the indentation on the lid. I used one of my French stamps for the tag. I threaded some flowers through the opening on the hinge and tied them in a little bouquet with some vintage seam binding. I also added some flowers to the text.


A little crown that Meri sent me was painted, slightly shabbied and glued on what was the top of the box.


A shell or two was added.


Let’s move Sophie (yes, that’s her name) in.



What do you think?


I have her on my bookcase in the studio. I have all sorts of ideas floating around in my head for other little boxes. I shall call them ‘boites’ – how about “Les Boites des Vignettes?” Yes, that is what I shall call them. Such fun!

Filed Under: crafts, DIY, sheep, Vignettes 36 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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The Dogs

The Dogs

Scout & Riley. Riley left us in 2012. Scout left us in February 2016. Dearest babies. Dearest friends.

Winston - Our first dog. We miss you, sweetheart.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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