Mosaic Monday - it is coming

Click image to enlarge.

While last week I was complaining about the gloomy skies and rain this week I have to say we have had a pleasant change in weather! It's been sunny, dry(ish) and warm enough for me to work in my garden and I noticed a few things while I was there.

My daffodils are sprouting nicely as are the crocus, and my forsythia and roses are starting to show signs of life. That poor little wild pansy is the only flower I've seen and the bugs and slugs have noticed it too.

I hope this post doesn't jinx my lovely weather... :)

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

It's a ... what is it?

I've had this for ages and can't even remember where it came from. It comes in a cardboard pocket which you see here:





And slides out the side.

It opens like a little notebook to reveal...

This very fascinating face.


A stylus sits in a side pocket.


And is used in these slots.

Like here where I started where the 5 is and pushed down. And now 5 shows up at the top row.


To clear all the numbers this bar slides up.


And this is printed on the side.

It seems quite simple...and yet I can't figure out how to make it work as an "adding machine." Of course I'm rubbish at anything even remotely mathematically related so that could explain a lot...

But it's kinda neat, right? I like it anyway.

A fanciful redo on a thrifted project

Earlier this fall I made this steampunk-inspired cloche using a one dollar garage sale candlestick and a one dollar light fixture globe. And a key I already had, and a stick from my yard, and a spray painted jar lid.

It looked great with my fall decor and I really liked it! But when it got moved to make way for Christmas decor something happened and I couldn't get that stick to stay put and my key made it fall over and the whole thing just didn't work anymore.

In looking around for different things to use I found this dried rose from my garden and I got an instant Disney's Beauty and the Beast vibe.


It stuck into the hole in the jar lid just perfectly and there was still enough room at the top that it didn't look too crowded.




And I had some dried rose petals to sprinkle around the bottom.



I think I like it even better this way! Fanciful? Yes. But I don't mind. :)

And it still fits in perfectly with my natural history museum/flower garden/library decor.


Linking to Twice Owned Tuesday at House of Grace.

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Awaiting Me

I was house-sitting for three weeks leading up to Christmas and then I have been staying with a friend for three weeks since the first week of January. When this intrepid traveler (ha) returned home see what awaited me!

Supplies for my Etsy shop - this was like Christmas all over again!


And a cousin who knows I love crafty things cleaned out her own craft room and sent me all this. I don't even know what is in these yet!


Looks like I am going to have plenty to blog about in the upcoming month. :)

Mosaic Monday - Blue Sky Blues

Click image to enlarge.

While many places have been experiencing unending snow, we Oregonians in the Willamette Valley have been experiencing our usual dreary, cloud-covered January. It honestly gets a tad depressing. Occasionally the sun comes out just before it sets and highlights the trees. I get a kick out of those few stubborn leaves on one of my apple trees (bottom middle photo).

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

Sweet Romance

Every once in a while I feel the inspiration to curate a treasury on Etsy and last night as I watched part of the 2008 BBC Sense & Sensibility and then visited Emma Wallace's music blog and listened to her "Exceed My Expectations" song I was feeling all romanticle (which IS a word if you're one of the Little Rascals). Sweet sort of lovey cuteness that makes you smile. :)

Click [here] to see the whole treasury, but I've highlighted a couple of my favorites below.

Cutest. print. ever.

Art by Brittney Lee click [here] to go to her shop listing. Go to her shop so you can see it larger.

Hand-painted pendant by Heather Kent. Click [here] to go to her shop listing.

I love everything in this shop. They make all these realistic and gorgeous flowers out of leather - and some are wearable! Click [here] to go to the shop listing.

Also - since I was already in my Austen and Emma Wallace mood, here's an adorable video that EW posted on her blog - a lovely fanvid she found.

Mosaic Monday - marshmallows

Click any of the images to enlarge. And in case you missed me talking incessantly about marshmallows the other day, I used this recipe.

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

Aprons as functional art

I've been staying with a friend for a little over a week. As soon as I walked into her kitchen I spotted her "wall of aprons."


She's taken an awkward, useless wall and turned into great storage and art!

I like how she has her little girl's aprons hanging up too. This one was made by Nana. Actually I think most of these aprons were made by Nana!

My mom made this little purple one.

There are even some aprons that match mommy's! :)

I do love aprons. I tend to get a little excited when cooking certain things. And displaying them/storing them this way means you get to enjoy them all the time!

Mosaic Monday - good morning, good night

Come early morning or early evening I always disappear from the house. I've snuck outside, bundled up and with a trail of cats and dog behind me, camera in hand.

The other morning, before the sun rose, the moon and the morning star kept me company while I waited for the few clouds to be painted pink.

It was sooooo frosty, chilly, but very worth it. Is it that cows are always so noisy in the morning or is it that it's just then quiet enough to hear them? (I don't have any cows, nor do my neighbors so I know the mooing was from a ways over the hill).

In turn, the setting sun backlights the beautiful bare branches making a lovely silhouette and if you wait for just the right moment, it will turn those clouds pink again.

It might be a little silly of me, but I spend a lot of time watching the sky change colors.

Thanks for coming along with me!

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

Get on a kick

Do you ever get on a "kick" of something where you kindof obsess about it? Let me share what I'm obsessing about and see if you feel any better about yours. :)

Orange/citrus scented body products.

I don't even know if this shampoo works or is any good but it smells AMAZING so I don't even care (plus I got it for $1.99 at Grocery Outlet so how could I pass that up?). I now have orange bodywash to go with it. I smell like a citrus salad when I get out of the shower.

Oh yeah and my other obsession with dark turquoise! Look at those nails! (and my scarf and my purse and my puffy winter vest and....)

"Why are you out there taking photos of shampoo when you could be playing with me?!"
I'm staying with a friend and this is her little one. :)


Mango & Lychee anything.

I blame Grey for reminding me I love lychee. I had a lychee scented lip balm in gradeschool and it takes me right back to good times. And I love mango everything. I once got a "themed" gift from a friend of a box full of mango flavored food items. It was great!

And then Allison at Epically Epic Soap Co. made a Mango-Lychee lip balm. Gah! Mine is in the mail. :)

Marshmallows.

Particularly homemade marshmallows. Everything I've heard about homemade marshmallows says they are amazing and a zillion times better than the store bought variety (I plan on trying this recipe.). I so want to try making these and I keep getting foiled in some way before I can start. Soon though. I bought two kinds of ice cream that have marshmallow swirls to comfort me in the meantime. And some marshmallow mocha creamer. And cereal with marshmallows in it.

Chocolate with a kick.

Ever since watching Chocolat I've wanted to try chocolate with chili powder. I found this at Grocery Outlet the other day (G.O. may be another of my obsessions...)

And last year sometime I found this and loved it:

It's not so much spicy as it is warm. Really interesting.

Peppy vintage (or vintage style) music.

Are there some songs you can't stop listening to all of a sudden?

I love the soundtrack from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

And I can't stop listening to [this one] sung by Doris Day.

So, do you feel better about your own quirky obsessions-of-the-moment? :)

Ooh and thanks for all those book recommendations on [this post]! Love them!